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The Museum’s Collections document the fate of Holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more. Search below to view digital records and find material that you can access at our library and at the Shapell Center.

Insignia found in the Kovno ghetto by Ephraim Guttmann, an airport worker and burial society member. In June 1941, Germany invaded and occupied Lithuania and by August, they had forced the Jews in Kovno into a ghetto. In July 1944, as Soviet forces were approaching Kovno, the authorities deported the remaining Jews in the ghetto to Stutthof and Dachau concentration camps and then burned it down. Ephraim survived by hiding in the bunkers. When the Soviet Army liberated the city on August 1, 1944, he was the first to collect and gather items remaining in the ghetto, including drawings, armbands, and hundreds of paper ephemera items. The “A” in this insignia patch more than likely stands for ‘arbeitsamt’ or ‘labor office’. This insignia is typical of what was produced by the Kovno ghetto graphics office headed by designer Peter “Fritz” Gadiel. Since the Germans prohibited radios and newspapers, the alternative was posting announcements within the ghetto. Elchanan Elkes, the Ältestenrat Chairman, turned to Gadiel to establish the graphics office, the Paint and Sign Workshop. Initially, the workshop provided simple signs to communicate orders to the ghetto residents, but eventually employed more artists and workers to create a wide range of items including ghetto currency, work passes, insignia, armbands and documents.

Summons for delousing from the Kovno ghetto.
TRANSLATION:
recto: "Name [last]__ First Name__/Work pass number__ Address__/You are expected to report on __1942 at __hours/in the discharge establishment at Block C., Varniu g. 32./for bathing. -- An absence is punishable by the police."

Contains a delivery receipt from a Kovno ghetto workshop, on white paper form; recto: black ink, upper left corner, logo in form of encircled Star of David with letters "GW" incorporated into star; heading beneath logo reads, "GHETTO-WERKSTAETTEN/VILIJAMPOLE"; upper right quadrant, title reads, "Ausgabeschein Nr...."; lower section of form composed of categories and lines printed in black ink.

Certificate from the Kovno Ghetto allowing the bearer to depart and return to the ghetto workshops at specified hours. Translation: recto: "GHETTO-WORKSHOPS/VILIJAMPOLE/Certificate/Labor Identification Card Number ... is TODAY authorized to leave the workshops at ... O'clock and to return at ... O'clock./.../SECTION LEADER/THE ... 1943/Kovno-Wilnaer Publishers and Press."

Certificate from the Kovno ghetto allowing the bearer to drive a cart or truck out of the ghetto workshops. Translation: recto: "GHETTO-WORKSHOP/VILIJAMPOLE/CERTIFICATE/A WAGON-TRUCK WITH ... UNDER ACCOMPANYMENT OF .... PERSONS IS AUTHORIZED TO LEAVE THE GHETTO WORKSHOPS ON ... 1943./... MANAGEMENT/Kovno-Wilnaer Publishers and Press.."

Certificate from the Kovno ghetto allowing the bearer to carry specified items out of the ghetto workshops. Translation: recto: "GHETTO-WORKSHOPS/VILIJAMPOLE/CERTIFICATE/../is authorized, TODAY, to carry the following objects through the police barricades of the GHETTO-WORKSHOPS:/.../.../.../../MANAGEMENT/THE...1943/Kovno-Wilnaer Publishers and Press..."

Medical certificate from the Kovno Ghetto workshops. Translation: recto: "GHETTO WORKSHOPS/VILIJAMPOLE/OUTPATIENT CLINIC/Medical Certificate Number.../Labor Identification Number:.../Diagnosis:.../is from... until ...1943/inclusive, unable to work./.../DATE OF ISSUE/.../OUTPATIENT CLINIC DOCTOR/The medical certificate does not allow ANY leave from work; for example, it does not permit leaving the workplace; it serves ONLY AS the SUPPORTING DOCUMENT for the leave pass!"; verso: "UNIT * WORKSHOP/.../LABOR IDENTIFICATION NUMBER.../is to be allowed medical assistance in the OUTPATIENT CLINIC of the Ghetto Workshops./.../SECTION LEADER/The...1943."

Receipt for arrest from the Kovno ghetto. Translation: recto: "Receipt/Today, on ____ 1942___ o'clock, through the officer ____ the ghetto-dweller/in____ on the basis of the decision/warrant/order/Nr.____ was taken to the ghetto jail."

Contains a certificates issued on September 15, 1941 by SA Hauptsturmfuehrer Fritz Jordan, District Kommissar for Kovno. Five thousand certificates were issued to the Jewish Council for artisans, workers and eleven physicians. Those who bore such certificates were spared in early "actions" in the ghetto. Translation: recto: "IDENTIFICATION CERTIFICATE/FOR JEWISH MANUAL LABORERS/THE REGIONAL COMMISAR IN KOVNO-CITY i.t./[GEZ.?] JORDAN/SA-HAUPTSTURMFUEHRER [SA Chief Storm Leader -- eqivalent of Captain in Wehrmacht]."

Certificate from the Kovno ghetto identifying the bearer as being employed by a ghetto administrative department. Translation: recto: "Office of the Jewish Ghetto Community/Identification Card/Nr.111/It is hearby certified that .... is employed in the above mentioned office of the Jewish Ghetto Community as a .../Director of the Agency/Vilijampole, the ... 1942"; verso: "This identity card is valid until/Director of the Agency/Extended until .../..."

Application form for work on a city labor brigade in the Kovno ghetto. TRANSLATION: recto: "Application Nr.__ Date:/City Brigades Section/Column:__/Occupation/Name and First Name/Address/Labor Pass [Nr.]"

Permit allowing free movement in Kovno ghetto to assist Jews with moving to Vilijampole. Translation: recto: "Lithuanian City Commandant/Kaunas Commandant/1941 July 12/J. Bobelis/ Chairman"; verso: "Permission to move about to accomplish move of Jews from Kaunas to Vilijampole. No obstructions should be put in the carrier's way/Valid to 25 August 1941."

Learn about over 1,000 camps and ghettos in Volume I and II of this encyclopedia, which are available as a free PDF download. This reference provides text, photographs, charts, maps, and extensive indexes.